Cool toys from Toy Fair 2012

The Toy Fair is once again in town at the Javitz Center in New York. And like every other online gadget blog, we wanted to give you a little taste of what's there.

Granted, with somewhere around 1,500 manufacturers, distributors, importers, and sales agents from 30 countries making the rounds at the convention center, we're only highlighting a small fraction of all the products on display. But, hopefully there's a little something for everyone in this lengthy photo gallery.

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Activision Skylanders Giants

Activision's Skylanders franchise has been a huge hit with kids, and the company used Toy Fair to unveil the next version of the game, Skylanders Giants.

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Tree Rex

Activision only showed one of eight larger figures (one for each element) that are part of the new Skylanders Giants game that arrives this fall. His name: Tree Rex.

All of the new figures feature "Light Force" technology that allows the figure's body parts to light up when placed on the Portal of Power (no battery in the figure required).

No word on pricing yet, but expect the Giants figures to cost significantly more. After all, they are twice the size of the original figures, which can be used in the new game. Needless to say, the Giants characters in the video game possess certain unique attributes.

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Mattel Apptivity

With its Apptivity line of games, Mattel is trying to marry "real" toys with iPad apps. The jury's still out on whether that's a good idea.

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Apptivity Hot Wheels car

The nonscratching wheels of the Hot Wheels car work with the iPad's touch screen.

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Barbie Photo Fashion Doll

The Barbie Photo Fashion doll has a camera in her back and a shirt with a screen that adds a frame around whatever you shoot. Photos can be offloaded from Barbie with an included pink USB cable. It's due out this August for $50.

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Apptivity toys: Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja

Apps evolve into plastic toys: Mattel's Apptivity line includes Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja toys that work with the original games.

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Mattel Fijit Friends

Mattel's dancing Fijits Friends are back (Mattel said it sold 900,000 of them last year) and have added to their family with the smaller--and one might say cuter--Newbies and Yippits.

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The eyes of a Fijit Friend

Dancing in the dark with a Fijit Friend.

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Hot Wheels Ballistiks

Playing on the transformers theme Mattel has designed a Hot Wheel that folds up into a ball.

"With a quick fold and tuck, Hot Wheels Ballistiks turns from a vehicle to a ball that can be rolled rapidly across the floor, down carpeted stairs, or anywhere boys imagine up a stunt."

To transform from ball to vehicle, you simply crash the Ballistiks vehicle onto hard surface. There will be 24 vehicles in all starting in June.

Digital slot racing

Codee

Simple and brilliant: Codee is a simple plastic bendable chain that comes with an assembly code for bending a little model toy in a certain order by following numbered and lettered notches on each joint. The single chain of plastic can be bent into other shapes by following other codes, which could be shared online.

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Lexibook Juniors tablet

Android tablets...for kids! Get ready for 2012's burgeoning holiday trend. Lexibook is one of several manufacturers looking to get in on making child-oriented Android tablets at aggressive $199-range prices this holiday season.